Maybe, we all got on the flight to America;our sister and I shared the window seat;you sat on mummy's lapand then she left us.Maybe, you will have your first birthday in Apt 5A.Cake, ice cream and our sister’s criesbalanced on the rooftop of grandma’s bad temper.Then, we grow up sitting stone faced on top of the blue velvet sofa,silent talking, believing’: “mum’s coming back.”We brave the brown leather straps; eat Dinty Moore beef stew,and read stories about siblings who were abandonedbut still humane enough to leave bread for the birds.I can see us all now; checks stamped to our foreheads,overweight and voiceless;Maybe we will love each other?Subsequently, mum will return with war storiesby courtesy of her husband who proudly smashes her face against the seasons.But then again, you can always pretend it never happened;slip out of mummy’s lap,cry on the white beach of Barbados, pick up your packages from the Mail service,eat Avocados out of your backyardand write Christmas cards to the 17-year-old that birthed you…​"Maybe" has been published by Free Library of the Internet Void, June 2018internetvoid.com/2018/06/08/and-maybe-by-kay-bell/